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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Crime & Justice

Protest in Tocuyito: Demand for list of political prisoners transferred from El Helicoide

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Human rights defenders and political leaders protested outside Tocuyito prison, demanding a list of political prisoners transferred from El Helicoide.
  • Families of the transferred prisoners have been denied information about their relatives' whereabouts since the move.
  • Activists called for civil society and the international community to maintain pressure for information and freedom for political prisoners.

Human rights defenders and political leaders gathered outside the Tocuyito prison, known as the "Hombre Nuevo El Libertador" correctional facility, to demand a list of political prisoners who were transferred from the El Helicoide detention center on the night of May 3rd.

Since the transfer began, they have been denied information. They don't know where their sons, their brothers are, and that's why they are requesting the lists.

— Angélica FloresState human rights rapporteur for Vente Carabobo, explaining the lack of information for families of transferred political prisoners.

Leaders from Voluntad Popular and Proyecto Venezuela, along with human rights advocates, lent their support to the families of the political detainees. Angélica Flores, the state human rights rapporteur for Vente Carabobo, informed El Carabobeño that information has been withheld from the families since the transfers began. "They don't know where their sons, their brothers are, and that's why they are requesting the lists," Flores stated.

She further detailed that detainees were moved from Caracas to Carabobo, with some housed in the area known as "Hombre Nuevo" and others in the "Penal Viejo" sector. "We don't know more, neither who they are nor how many there are," she added.

We don't know more, neither who they are nor how many there are.

— Angélica FloresState human rights rapporteur for Vente Carabobo, describing the uncertainty surrounding the transferred prisoners.

Former political prisoner Alexander Fernández urged civil society and the international community not to normalize persecution and to continue advocating for the right to information and freedom. "We have to be strong and keep going. We cannot remain silent or let them intimidate us, keep us oppressed," he said.

We have to be strong and keep going. We cannot remain silent or let them intimidate us, keep us oppressed.

— Alexander FernándezFormer political prisoner urging continued pressure for information and freedom.

Fernández asserted that these individuals should never have been imprisoned and called for their immediate release. "We urgently need the freedom of political prisoners. Not just one or two. We want freedom for the country and for each and every one of them," he concluded.

We urgently need the freedom of political prisoners. Not just one or two. We want freedom for the country and for each and every one of them.

— Alexander FernándezFormer political prisoner calling for the immediate release of all political detainees.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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